I hope you are all well and enjoying the start of the new term. As we continue our journey of learning and growth at Birklands, I wanted to take a moment to share the high expectations we set for our children, both in their academic work and personal development.
We truly believe that every child has the potential to achieve great things. By setting high standards in everything they do—whether it’s their learning, behaviour, or effort—we help them to build confidence, resilience, and a love for learning. It is our goal to encourage our children to challenge themselves, to take pride in their achievements, and to always aim for their personal best.
Of course, this doesn’t happen without the support of you, our wonderful parents and carers. By working together, we can create an environment where children feel inspired to reach for the stars. Your encouragement at home is just as important as the support they receive in school, and we thank you for being such an integral part of your child’s learning journey.
Let’s continue to work as a team to inspire our children to grow, achieve, and shine!
I am pleased to share that Miss Watson is now the Acting Deputy Head Teacher at Birklands Primary School. Miss Watson is a highly respected member of our team who brings a wealth of knowledge and experience. Miss Watson will continue teaching Year 5 for the rest of the academic year as well as taking on her new role. I'm sure you will all join me in congratulating her.
We are pleased that more children are exchanging their wristbands for rewards from the cabinet. As a school we record incidents of poor behaviour too. We are pleased to share that analysis of the information shows that from the introduction of the wristband rewards the number of poor behaviour incidents has significantly decreased.
Well done everyone and keep it up!
Jack from Year 1 has broken a record by receiving 4 wristbands in one day! What an amazing role model you are Jack!
Last week Matthius amazed everyone by completing the Ultimate Multiplication Challenge whilst in Year 3. This week Lillith from Year 6 has completed the same challenge in an unbelievable time of 3 minutes and 51 seconds!
Our Year 6 children are continuing their preparations for the end of Key Stage 2 SATs. Weekly arithmetic tests play a big part in their preparations. Last week Farrall scored a perfect 40/40! Way to go Farrall!
And this week in arithmetic 4 children scored over 38 out of 40. All of our year 6s are fired up for the SATs and making super progress.
Alan, Lillith (again!), Nelly and Paige
Mia has been busy reading and has now read 10 of the Lower Key Stage 2 100 books. Some of them are chapter books too! We are busy sorting a special reward for Mia!
Another Year 6 pupil who we are very proud of is Lexie. She is making outstanding progress. Lexie has gone from a score of 21/40 to 32/40. I can't wait to see what her next score is going to be!
In the last Newsletter we hinted at a new reading reward and I'm pleased to share an update with you.
At Birklands Primary School we value reading as a key to learning. To quote Eddie from Year 2 "I didn't like reading when I couldn't do it but now I can and I'm finding out lots of new things because I read everything!"
We are still finalising the details of how the reward scheme but I can share that we are awaiting the delivery of a reading book vending machine! Children will be able to earn the chance to win a token to 'purchase' a book from the machine. We have used the prize money from winning Nova's Primary School of the Year to pay for the machine.
Once delivered, it will be personalised for Birklands and we will share full details of how the reward scheme works.
Thursday 13th February
EYFS & KS1 3.15 - 4.00pm
KS2 4.15 - 5.15pm
Tickets will be given to the children once payment is made. Payment can only be made by Squid or bank transfer.
£2.50 includes entry, a drink and a sweet cone.
Some of our KS1 children have been visiting the Coloured Cob Equestrian Centre each Monday. They are really enjoying learning to ride a horse and have been enjoying learning how to take care of the horses. Last week, the children filled up the hay nets and the water buckets and learnt how to brush a horse using different types of brushes.
On Friday 10th January, Steve Yemm, the Labour MP for Mansfield and Warsop, visited our school as part of his outreach work within the community. Our Key Stage 2 children had spent some time learning about the Government and the role of a MP prior to his visit and had prepared some questions to ask him. These ranged from wanting to know more about the daily life of a Member of Parliament to local issues including pot holes, school places, housing development and facilities for young people.
Steve will be returning to Birklands later in the year to do some work with our Junior School Council.
We are pleased to welcome another new member to the team. Miss Verity is working in the office every morning so you may have already met her. She is doing a fantastic job and has quickly settled into the team.
Well done to Jay class for 98% attendance last week - they really enjoyed coming in non-uniform!
This week a huge well done to Goldcrest with 100% attendance! Miss Shaw will let you know which day Goldcrest can come in non-uniform.
If you have any questions or need advice or support with attendance, please contact our attendance officer, Mrs Hunt. Her email contact is nhunt@birklandsschool.co.uk
We have alot of uniform in our lost property. Hopefully there will be a couple of dry days next week to put it out at home time so you can check it.
We no longer stock uniform in school. If you do need to order any please use this link.
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